Everyone has heard of the Maya civilization, but few people are aware that the Mayan languages are still spoken to this day. Mayan isn’t a single language but rather an entire language family of 30 different languages, so distinct that speakers of different Mayan languages usually can’t understand one another. Today, the Mayan languages are collectively spoken by around 6 million native speakers, with K’iche’ in Guatemala and Yucatec Maya in Mexico accounting for the most speakers. But the smaller Mayan languages, such as Ch’ol, remain prominent to this day.
Ch’ol, notable to linguists for being one of the most conservative Mayan languages, has around 250,000 native speakers today, so while it’s not the biggest language in Mexico, it maintains a considerable presence in the region. In fact, an estimated 40,000 Ch’ol speakers are even monolingual, which means Ch’ol stands on relatively stable ground for an endangered language. Of course, however, the widespread use of Spanish throughout Mexico poses a threat to the proud Mayan tongue, and most translation firms don’t offer services for Ch’ol, as they prefer to work with major languages. At TranslationServices.com, however, we’re passionate about languages like Ch’ol, which is why we’re proudly presenting our Ch’ol translation team today.
Perhaps you’d like to see a free quote for our Ch’ol translation services—all you have to do is ask!
Discovering Ch’ol, the modern-day language closest to Classic Maya
Have you ever wondered what the dominant language of the Maya civilization was like? Ch’ol gives us a glimpse into the linguistic history of the Maya people. Spoken in southern Mexico—mostly the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche—Ch’ol comes from the Cholan branch of Mayan languages and is considered one of the closest living relatives to the Classic Maya language. Ch’ol has preserved grammatical features and vocabulary that other Mayan languages have since lost, with modern-day Ch’ol speakers able to understand Classic Maya words to a degree.
Like other Mayan languages, Ch’ol features a grammatically complex structure that’s difficult for English speakers to grasp. The basic word order in Ch’ol is verb-object-subject, although a complicated interplay of animacy, definiteness, topicalization, and focus determine what word order is appropriate for any given sentence. Ch’ol also features the ergativity typical of the Mayan family, which means the verb agrees with the object, not the subject, in transitive sentences. However, this is only the case in the perfective aspect (i.e., a completed action)—in the imperfective aspect (i.e., an ongoing, repetitive, or habitual action), the verb agrees with the subject.
We can translate whatever you want to or from Ch’ol.
We understand how difficult it is to find reliable Ch’ol translation services—so we’ve built our team to accommodate as many client needs as possible. Sourcing our Ch’ol translators from all over Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche, we cover a variety of Ch’ol dialects, so it’s easy to zero in on the particular type of Ch’ol you’re aiming for. Our translators are native Ch’ol speakers who are proud of their heritage and language, and they’re able to translate both into Ch’ol and from Ch’ol, so we’re ready to serve you, wherever you may be located.
Our flexibility also extends to the types of documents we can translate. Perhaps you want to translate some old documents written in Ch’ol, or you’d like to share some traditional Ch’ol stories with the outside world to invigorate appreciation for this rich culture. Maybe you’re a businessperson coming to southern Mexico and looking to connect with local Ch’ol speakers, or perhaps you’re a language activist looking to translate educational materials and entertainment content like books, games, apps, and poems into Ch’ol, which not only gives native-speaking children a chance to learn in their language but also allows speakers of all ages to use Ch’ol in more ways, as well as offers more opportunities for Ch’ol learners to pick up the language. Whatever you want Ch’ol translation services for, we’re here.
Our skilled team is ready to provide translation to and from Ch’ol. All you have to do is send us a message!
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